By Al Hain-Cole

The Lilywhites have been the shock success story of this season's Premier Division under Stephen Kenny, and Al Hain-Cole expects them to grind out another victory

Dundalk travel to Limerick on Saturday night, hoping to continue their surprising challenge at the top of the table.

The Lilywhites narrowly avoided relegation last season, but have been transformed into unlikely title contenders this campaign, and are available at 15/8 (2.88) to continue their progress all three points.

The newly-promoted hosts are merely aiming to preserve their top flight status, and are slight favourites at 11/8 (2.38) to come out on top in front of their own fans.

The visitors are yet to draw a single league game on their travels, but you can get odds of 11/5 (3.20) on them playing out the fifth stalemate in seven games at Thomond Park.

Dundalk’s renaissance this season has been overseen by former Premier Division winner Stephen Kenny, who is looking to rebuild his managerial career after a disappointing spell in charge of Shamrock Rovers.

The 41-year-old’s methods have increasingly borne fruit in recent weeks, as his tight-knit unit have won seven of their last nine matches, conceding just four goals in the process.

They will be confident of imposing themselves against a team who are without a win in their last five league fixtures, and have only found the net once in that period.

With a faltering attack, Stuart Taylor’s men will look to keep things tight and hope to grind out a result, meaning odds of 4/6 (1.67) on under 2.5 goals offer the best value here.

That bet would have paid out in four of the hosts’ last five and seven of the visitors’ last nine in the league, so cannot be ignored when they come face to face.

However, having won seven of their last eight games on the road, Kenny’s side are more than capable of finding a breakthrough against their out-of-form opponents, and those 15/8 (2.88) odds seem very generous on them continuing their ascent with victory here.